


This Is Gonna Work!

by Erin_Ravenseeker



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Don't Judge Me, Fluff and Angst, Multi, but it's ok, good job tracer, i'll add more tags as characters get added, i've fallen too far into the fandom help, just have a drink, no regrets, reinhardt is good at cooking, tracer doesn't understand omnic logic sometimes, yes going to the bar with an omnic you don't know is a great idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-07-22 22:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7456131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erin_Ravenseeker/pseuds/Erin_Ravenseeker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Recalling Overwatch was a difficult decision, but everyone's determined to make it work!</p><p>~HIATUS FOR AN UNDETERMINED TIME BECAUSE I'M HORRIBLE AND LAZY~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome back home, Overwatch!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha ha I'm so dead inside, plz enjoy

“It’s good to be back!” Tracer exclaimed, practically falling into one of the chairs.

“We weren’t gone very long,” Winston responded, carefully putting away his Tesla Cannon.

“Welcome back, you two,” Athena said.

“Thank you Athena,” Winston replied.

“Cheers luv!” Tracer said, tossing her guns to the side of the room. Winston rolled his eyes and put them on the desk, making sure the ammunition was pulled out first. Then he pulled off his blasters and front chestplate. Tracer removed her gauntlets, also tossing them to the side where Winston caught them and put them away. 

“I wonder if I left anything in my locker here?” the girl mused out loud, stretching. “Hey Winston, where’s m’rig?” Winston pointed to a computer desk in the corner, and she blinked over and into the chair in front of it.

“Did anything happen while we were gone, Athena?” Winston asked the computer. There was a moment’s silence before Athena answered.

“There was a news broadcast mentioning something at the museum. You’ve been identified on security cameras as former Overwatch operatives, and there are contrasting views on whether what happened was good or bad.” Winston nodded. Tracer leaned back and sighed. The public had been in disarray ever since Overwatch shut down, and more so since the second Omnic Crisis arose. The amount of people against Overwatch increased the closer they were to major and well-protected cities, especially the ones where Omnics were accepted. This was because those in the cities had been safer and more disconnected from the first Omnic Crisis, so they didn’t understand how the Omnics had caused a lot of suffering for those in more rural areas. Tracer didn’t dislike Omnics particularly, in fact she was a great fan of one particular group who sought peace with humans. When Overwatch shut down, the Petras Act clearly stated that all Overwatch activity was legal, but by becoming mercenaries, Overwatch agents would still function against Talon and the second Omnic Crisis. But Winston activated the Overwatch Recall. 

“Was it really the right thing to do?” Tracer wondered aloud.

“Hm? Was what?” asked Winston.

“Recalling Overwatch agents. Half of ‘em won’t even answer it I bet, ’specially the ones that got other… priorities, and we’re breaking the law too.”

“Activating the Recall isn’t a statement. It’s a request,” Winston replied. “It’s not saying that Overwatch will return. That’s illegal. It’s just asking former agents to fight again. Not saying which side they should be on or how they should do it.” Tracer sighed.

“Luv, I think you’re missin’ m'point,” she said.

“What point is that?”

“To us it doesn’t mean Overwatch is back in business, it’s a fresh start right? But what about other people? Doesn’t the government get notice of the Recall too?”

“Well yes, I suppose that is-”

“No, the government has received no notice of the Recall,” Athena interrupted.

“What?”

“My active programme was disconnected from the government’s systems a long time ago. The government has received no information since Overwatch was disbanded.”

“How’d ya do that, luv?” Tracer asked, but Athena didn’t give any more of an explanation. Eventually Tracer stopped caring, and started tapping on her computer. After a while she turned to Winston and asked, “d'ya think it’ll work out?”

“What do you mean?” Winston asked back.

“Well, we only have one reply so far, right? I don’t know how I’d feel to find out that nobody wants to come back. I know I shouldn’t think about it,” she said, seeing Winston’s sharp glare, “and I know you like to believe in the ‘best possible outcome’, but what if the same thing happens again? I don’t want to see Overwatch crash like it did before.”

Winston was silent for a while at this, then he checked the one reply they’d got. “It won’t. I won’t let it, and I know lots of other people think the same way. This message proves it.”

Tracer smiled. “Yeah, you’re right, luv! I’m gonna go make some dinner, k?” she said, walking out of the room. Winston sighed. He could tell she was disheartened by the legal implications and lack of responses to the Recall; he was too. But this was a new start for them. For everyone. The new Overwatch was going to be better. He would make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't gonna be that much of a regular fic, just enjoying writing this because I love Overwatch WAAAAAY too much. 
> 
> I've fallen too far.
> 
> I love this game.
> 
> Also don't kill me I have OTPs in this game I CAN DREAM
> 
> And I'm apparently the same height as Tracer.


	2. 'Cause I'd never give you guys up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know I'm using this thing called "creative license" to alter the history behind Overwatch. Have fun working through the mess that is my brain!

Tracer took a deep breath and released another volley of bullets at the targets. She checked her aim as she reloaded, and noticed she’d barely hit anything. Frustrated, she let out another lot and continued to miss. She blamed it on the hair being in her eyes and blew it away, lowering her guns. Long-range shooting wasn't really her thing anyway.

She walked out of the training area and down the halls of Watchpoint Gibraltar. They felt a little too empty. Even when nobody was in the halls, anyone could tell the base was occupied. Usually it was the smell of delicious food being cooked in the kitchen, or the smell of Jack or Gabe burning something. Or angry shouting because someone decided to bring bombs inside AGAIN and they were SUPPOSED to be left downstairs in the bomb-proof storage area!

Winston was busy in his lab, still working on his shield generator. He’d managed to make it work, but the only thing better than a generator that worked was a generator that worked absolutely perfectly. He was happy with spending all this time in his lab, even if Athena was less than enthused. It was good to pull out some of the rusty Overwatch tech again and mess with it, though, and this kind of activity was definitely keeping him distracted enough. He hear the door to his lab open and Tracer walking in without a word, when Athena started talking.

“Heat detectors have identified someone outside the front door of the Watchpoint,” she said. Winston almost instinctively looked around the lab, locating his Tesla Cannon.

“Who is it?” he asked. Athena was silent for a moment.

“Detectors are to damaged to get a proper reading. I am also unable to activate the voice recognition software. It seems to be broken," she responded.

“Guess we gotta go find out ourselves,” Tracer said, pulling out her pistols as Winston retrieved his Tesla Cannon. They got to near the front door, and waited.

“Opening the doors,” Athena said, and the two had to squint when the sun stung their eyes through the doorway. There was a large figure there, clunking as it walked in. They’d recognise that suit anywhere.

“Reinhardt!” Tracer cheered, immediately blinking over and jumping at him. He caught her in a hug, lifting her several feet off the ground.

"Ach, mein kind! Es ist lange her! You are looking well!” the man bellowed cheerfully. Tracer stuck her tongue out at him when he accidentally spoke in German, as she did with most of the other members, but she definitely understood the sentiment. She hadn’t seen Reinhardt in ages, and she was very glad to have a close friend with her as well. Sure she was great friends with Winston but his company sometimes got tiring or repetitive, and she’d known Reinhardt for longer anyway.

“Reinhardt, it’s good to see you again,” Winston said, putting down his Tesla Cannon after turning it off. Tracer managed to get out of the hug when Reinhardt walked over to Winston and clapped his friend on the back.

“Winston, mein alter freund! How has life been treating you?” the big man boomed with a laugh. Although the man’s subtlety was something left to be desired, and his strength would often exceed his expectations if he wasn’t careful, the German’s pure joy and booming laugh was contagious, and Winston found himself smiling. The big old man was certainly full of emotion and this was the type of reunion Winston hoped they’d be experiencing many times over.

“Welcome back, Reinhardt,” Athena said her greetings too.

“Athena, it is a pleasure to hear your voice again!” Reinhardt responded. “I look forward to this, my friends!” Tracer laughed, and Winston smiled as they made their way down the halls, Athena closing and locking the front door behind them. Winston needed to fix the machinery out there later. Tracer was sharing jokes and calm banter, telling him about what they’d been up to since the Recall and sharing some jokes she hadn’t been able to use in ages. Reinhardt laughed at every single one of them, his voice filling up the halls that neither of the two had realised felt empty. 

After a while Winston turned to Reinhardt properly and asked, “Why’d you come back to the fight, you’re not getting any younger.” Reinhardt just laughed, and responded without even thinking.

“I could **never** give this up!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I like Reinhardt. A lot. As a character he's fantastic. I can see he's full of energy and ready to go like no-one else, but he's also the reliable guy you know's got your back. I wanted him in early because he's a great person to have around, and also an anchor back to the past Overwatch while I add in characters that are new recruits. 
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Also because he's easy to write.~~


	3. A MUCH better cook.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reinhardt does some cooking.  
> Tracer fails to 'taste test'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon Reinhardt is an amazing cook.
> 
> This just a stupid piece of short filler chapter, enjoy.
> 
> Notes at the end about why I haven't been updating.

Tracer was absent-mindedly flicking through the channels on the television when she smelt burning from the kitchen. She could tell it was coming from the kitchen because it carried the not-so-subtle undertones of years-old grease and peanut butter. She sighed and stopped flicking, turning her attention back to the TV until there was the sound of food exploding and a loud shout coming from the kitchen, to which she left the TV running on a very interesting segment about some sort of new vigilante and went to help the pour soul in the kitchen.

Winston was sheepishly hiding around the corner, peeking at something on the stove that was making a loud, sludgy bubbling and popping noise. Tracer looked around the corner at the walls and benchtop splattered in a thick, oily goop glubbing in the pan. Her face instantly screwed up in disgust at the smell. It was like… onions fried in BP oil and stuffed inside a raw chicken that was then steamed in fumes from a busy road. She retreated back into cover at a rather loud pop and turned to Winston.

“H- _how_!?” was all she could say.

“It was going alright at the start,” the scientist replied sheepishly, prodding his two index fingers(?) together. 

“What is this smell!?” exclaimed Reinhardt, lumbering into the small space that was protected from the explosion.

“Winston tried cooking,” Tracer responded, finally opting to hold her nose over breathing in that stench any longer. Reinhardt just shook his head, shooing the two out of the kitchen.

“Go breathe fresh air, my friends, I shall cook dinner for tonight!” he encouraged, then set to work cleaning up the mess. 

——————

Whatever was being cooked in the kitchen now smelt a lot better than whatever Winston had tried to make. Or anything either agent had been eating up until now. In fact, it smelt better than quite a lot of food they had ever eaten in their lives, which for Winston mainly consisted of bananas and peanut butter, which was what he was eating tonight as punishment. That and his scientifically natural diet, which happened to not be peanut butter but he insisted.

Tracer, however, was keen to try whatever Reinhardt was magicking up, and she couldn’t wait for a taste. Reinhardt swatted her away gently as she tried for a fifth attack at the food still being prepared, this time jumping and blinking at the same time so she pushed herself with her left arm over his right shoulder and reached as far as possible with her right arm. After the denial, she tried again, this time going in low and from the left, but she was pushed away once more.

“C’mon luv, give us a taste!” she pouted, frowning at the German’s laughing response.

“You’ll get it when it’s done,” he bellowed back, grinning and pushing away the eager little Brit, who attempted to stare him down in response. He shooed her out, saying, “leave me alone now, liebling, go watch the news.” She scowled all the way out.

——————

Reinhardt’s cooking was worth the wait. The old man grinned as his meal was met with enthusiasm and praise. Tracer thought it was definitely worth the wait.

Overwatch was worth the wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I haven't been active on AO3 in a while, you may have noticed, and that's because I've been completely swamped in school assignments. At the same time, there's been some discord amongst my friends and one of them actually left and went to America.
> 
> I promise I'll get on a decent upload schedule, which may have to be fortnightly, after I've taken care of a lot of these assignments.
> 
> But thank you so much for reading this story, some people undervalue how much it means to artists and writers how much it means to have people see and enjoy their work but it means a lot.
> 
> <3<3


	4. For Peace and Tranquility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***deep breath in***
> 
>  
> 
> OK  
> SO  
> THERE'S A LOT TO TALK ABOUT  
> There are a few tag changes I'd like to mention!  
> So if you don't care about the tags, just read the story. None of this is relevant otherwise.  
> But for those of you who **DO** read the tags and other stuff, (I know I do), you need to know a few things about these changes!!!
> 
> **FIRSTLY, REMINDERS**  
>  \- Tags, if I haven't mentioned before, are being added as characters and events are! (this is in a tag, just thought I'd clarify that)  
> \- That means that, although there may not be a certain character in the tags _yet_ , they will be added later on! I plan to have the whole cast, _however well that goes_. *claps slowly and **very** sarcastically at self  
>  \- Also, just generally, I am planning to make this series last for quite a while. So if you get bored, please, please, please do give prompts, I need them!!!
> 
> **SECONDLY, UPDATES**  
>  \- I'm updating tags as I go along! Which means that I've removed the unnecessary tags that aren't relevant so I don't spoil anything. This also means the tags may or may not update every chapter I release, so keep an eye on that.  
> \- As per the note above, I've removed quite a few of the tags! Here's a list of what's been removed:  
> \--- Relationship: Lúcio Correia dos Santos/Hana "D.Va" Song  
> \--- Relationship: Lena "Tracer" Oxton/Genji Shimada  
> \--- Slow Burn  
> \- OK IT'S NOT THAT MANY TAGS I GOT RID OF BUT BEAR WITH ME HERE OK???  
> \- That's all.
> 
> **ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM NOW ON WILL BE IN THE CHAPTER NOTES BEFORE OR AFTER CHAPTERS.**  
>  Also, please remember _gimme prompts I always need material_.

Convincing Winston to let her go had been difficult, but not impossible. Seeing as the new Overwatch’s operation had not officially begun, and there weren’t many agents in the base right now, nobody could form a strong enough claim that the organisation was officially back together.

So Tracer was allowed out on this one occasion, thankfully without either of the two conspicuous agents tailing along with her. They probably wouldn’t have wanted to come with her, either. Winston wasn’t interested in this kind of thing and Reinhardt had an automatic disposition opposed to it.

Tracer trumped through the streets with the crowd, head down and messy brown hair covered by a purple beanie with white stars patterned on the edge. She wore plain blue jeans, some black nikes and a black leather jacket to cover her accelerator. There was no real need to go incognito, but her appearance back at Watchpoint Gibraltar after so long could raise some eyebrows, so Winston had insisted. Tracer was glad he did; it was cold today.

She turned the corner to find the main plaza, large statue of Mondatta shining in the fleeting sunlight. It was filled with Omnics and humans alike. That's right; she was going to an Omnic rights rally. There'd been great concern after Mondatta was assassinated, but eventually the government 'discovered' it was related to Talon. While this was true, it didn't change the fact that the government lied about what they knew. London in particular was the site of countless rallies and limitless discrimination, and that's where Tracer was right now.

"Back in my old stomping ground," she laughed quietly, blending into the crowd and swerving through them to get the best view of the guest speaker.

When they stepped up to the platform, the chatter in the crowd died down, and they began their speech.

"To all of you gathered today, humans and omnics alike, we are gathered here because we have one mind. One goal in our lives. And that is peace and equality for all!" The speaker was passionate as they spoke, gesturing wildly and hitting the lectern when they deemed it appropriate. Tracer rolled her eyes and let out a disapproving sound.

When the speech was finished, and it had been met by loud cheers as enthusiastic as the speaker had been, she didn't join in. Nor did she mill around, chatting with the others who had attended. Disappointed, she pulled her beanie further down over her hair, stuffed her hand in her pockets, and picked her way out of the crowd and into the empty streets.

"Mondatta did it better," she muttered loudly to herself.

"Excuse me."

Tracer spun on her right heel, putting her left foot behind it to stop and regain her balance when she was facing whoever was behind her, and found an omnic before her. She was wondering why she hadn't noticed they were following her when she noticed they were actually floating couple of feet above the ground in a sitting position. Before she could ask anything, though, the omnic spoke again.

"You seem dissatisfied with the speaker tonight."

"Well, yeah," Tracer responded. "What's it to you?" She shot them a suspecting glare. The omnic raised its right hand peacefully.

"I as well. I have heard that keeping emotions to oneself can be problematic. I am also curious about your opinion," they passively offered to have a chat. Tracer thought about it, then sighed inwardly. They didn't seem to be a suspicious person, and she could always protect herself in case if any problems arose. She hesitantly conceded.

"Perhaps we could go to one of your 'bars'?" the omnic suggested.

Tracer shot them a curious look. "Y'can't drink, can ya?" she asked. They shook their head.

"The atmosphere of a place can give the same understanding as an experience does."

Tracer twisted this thought through her mind as she led the way to her favourite bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if my Zenyatta is pretty OOC, I haven't really "got" his characterisation yet.  
> And OH GOD THIS CHAPTER WAS SHORT DON'T WORRY I'LL ADD ANOTHER ONE SOON TO MAKE UP FOR IT I SWEAR
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and please make sure you've read the notes at the top of this chapter!


End file.
